Would you like Jesus with that?

‘Faith must be demonstrated not dictated.’ I read that sentence somewhere recently and it has stuck with me. I get disappointed that we have turned Christianity into a dull lifeless commodity that I frankly don’t blame people for not bothering with. Why should they bother; many Christians don’t!?

In these days of wide screen television, Blu Ray discs, Nintendo, 3D / Gold Class / Imax Cinema and whatever else that invades our senses, the Christian faith is more like some grainy, snow ridden, black and white image, portrayed by dull lifeless people dressed in clothes from the St Vinnies bin.

I wonder if Jesus ever in his life conceived of his followers inventing a faith they would franchise with his name, that in essence was a ‘buy before you die’ deal so that you will get to heaven rather than the other place? Was that the main focus of Jesus’ ministry while he walked the earth? Was his ministry perhaps some kind of cosmic Panadol that would provide a quick fix for the latest pain and allow people to get back to life headache free?

Did Jesus use expressions such as ‘bread of life’, ‘light of the world’, ‘salt of the earth’, or ‘streams of living water’ because he happened to have a nice turn of phrase, or did he actually mean it? If he wasn’t just another spiritual politician looking for votes; then what was he?

Has a good part of the world been duped for 2,000 years into celebrating two annual festivals dedicated to his birth and death?

I admit to being one who has been seduced into the wider and deeper story of Jesus. It enchants me, frustrates me and inspires me to go and seek to connect with a Jesus who is more than a heavenly insurance policy. I am one of those poor simple fools who want to know more of this Jesus who once said to a bunch of religious leaders; ‘Before Abraham was, I am.’ I continue to seek to know Jesus to a depth where I can say like another John of many years ago, ‘And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.’ You see these words are very high in the spiritual ‘Wow’ factor. Beats plasma wide screen any day!

‘Before Abraham was, I am.’ Now there are some words to ponder over. Abraham had been dead for donkey’s years! What on earth was this Jesus on about? When John deliberately used descriptions like ‘the Word’ to describe Jesus this was more than a smart literary device. He was deliberately pointing people back to the very beginning of the Jewish Scriptures and their understanding of the whole story of the creation of the world. John had the temerity to suggest that when in Genesis 1 we read ‘And God said let there be light’ and a whole bunch of other ‘and God saids’, that saying – the speaking into being – was done by the Word; Jesus.

Is it any wonder then, that when Jesus said to a crippled man, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk,’ that he did? When the Word of God spoke, his words had power beyond our imagining. Now here is where I go off into my dreaming. What if?

At our local church we have a simple mission tag that says we are about ‘Building Communities of Care and Hope.’ What if this local body of Christ was to give itself to God, each other and the community of which we are a part in such a way that we became a vessel of care, hope, healing and peace? What if this congregation became so infectious that other communities caught the same disease? What if ..?

This is a costly faith; but then again this is the season of Lent leading to Easter and Good Friday. It is all chocolate and Easter bunnies on Easter Sunday. The best we can do for commercialism on Good Friday is fish and Hot Cross buns. The fish was a secret symbol of the persecuted church as it was hunted down by the authorities of the day. The buns? Well, nowadays we can have them plain, or fruit, or even chocolate’ but there is the ever present cross.

Cheers - John